10 Months Old

Double digit months! Our sweet girl is growing and exploring her world more than ever these days and between all the crawling and cruising, it's hard to keep up! This weekend has been really busy. Sweet girl is a popular one and she went to 2 First Birthday Parties on Saturday (her true 10 month birthday and then we were at the Pumpkin Patch this afternoon. Needless to say she is a girl on the go and we love that she has been so adaptable to our busy lifestyle.

A couple pictures from celebrating at our friend Harper's party.

And of course some Pumpkin Patch Pictures.

With all that being said Em is such a good baby. She loves crawling, climbing the stairs (thanks Daddy), cruising around all the furniture, looking out the windows, clapping, waving, blowing kisses, giving headbutts (once again thanks to her Daddy), giving high-5's, eating...the list could go on. She weighs roughly 20 pounds, is still wearing size 3 diapers and fits best in 12 month clothing. I have a feeling that the knees in a lot of her clothes are going to be really worn. The girl loves to crawl and she can move; I'm definitely thanking myself for being a head of the game and putting up those baby gates a couple months a go. Sweet girl is still breastfeeding 5 times a day and eating 3 meals. As I said before she loves to eat. Some of her favorites are cheese, grapes, carrots, beef stew and chicken pot pie. I have been so impressed with her eating and hope that she grows to enjoy food as much as we do. Her favorite restaurants are Panera Bread, where so devours the Macaroni and Cheese, and Cracker Barrel, where she enjoys a good sweet potato and Chicken 'n' Dumplings! Nugget still is not the biggest fan of getting her diaper changed or changing clothes, but she is starting to enjoy her swim lessons again. As for sleep, we have been struggling a bit and have had a few long nights and surprisingly I feel more tired now that I did when I was up feeding her multiple times a night as a newborn. I'm thinking she is teething again, she still only has two teeth, so hopefully this is a just a hiccup in the sleep department and she will be back to her good sleeping habits again soon!

Here's our lone 10 month picture. We were so busy running around that we didn't snap a picture on her true birthday and Nugget was too busy watching football to sit still this evening before bed, so bed head and a Redskins sweatshirt is what we got!

Luda Family Vacation - Disney World

"Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age and dreams are forever." 

-Walt Disney

About two weeks ago we boarded a plan and went down to Florida for our first Luda Family Vacation! We had just been to Florida last summer, but since I was pregnant I did not have the pleasure of experiencing some of the attractions, particularly those at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Needless to say I was super excited to be heading back and even more excited for Emerson to have such a fun experience so early in life. I know, I know, she won't remember a thing, but you know who will, us! We'll remember how she looked with wide eyes at everything around her; how excited she got when riding on a flying fish, elephant and magic carpet; how she waved at everyone as if she was in her very own parade.

We loved every minute of our family vacation and are so excited to continue experiencing the world through the eyes of our daughter. She makes everything more exciting and I am so thankful for all the joy she brings to not only our lives, but to the lives of those around her. 

Here are a few of my favorite Luda Family Vacation 2014 moments:

And lastly, my thoughts on travelling with a baby. We opted to fly, BEST DECISION EVER. We typically drive to Florida, but after getting there so quickly this go around I doubt we will ever pack into the car and drive the 12+ hours it takes to get to Florida, well at least I hope not! Flying with Em was such a smooth experience. I was a little stressed on our first flight, shocker, but everything was great all things considered. We decided to pack everything in carry-on bags, which was fine because a diaper bag doesn't count as a carry-on and we were able to gate check her stroller and car seat, but in hindsight, we should have just checked a bag. There was no reason to lug extra bags through the airport if we didn't need to, so lesson learned. Once we were through security, I put her in her woven wrap and she stayed in it for most of the flights; on our return flight she actually slept the entire time! She was such a good girl.

At the parks, which were actually very baby-friendly, we tried not to worry so much about her schedule. We knew that she was going to have later nights and that things would not be her norm. We had her stroller and I always had my wrap handy in case she wanted to be carried or held for nap. Most days she still got her two normal naps, sometimes 3 short ones, and she ate her meals like normal. Her favorite park for food was definitely Epcot, ours too, and I think the fact that we have always tried to give her what we are eating really helped with that. Also, both Disney and Epcot had Baby Care areas where I was able to nurse her in a quiet room with rocking chairs and change her in an area that wasn't a bathroom. It was really nice and definitely gave me one more reason to LOVE Disney, not that it was needed! 

We really had a fantastic time and hope that we are able to take her back time and time again!